Tag Archives: electronic cigarettes

My New Years Resolution: Keep On Giving up Smoking

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Every year millions of people all over the world make New Years Resolutions, but an awful lot of those promises are broken pretty soon. The most popular resolutions are to stop smoking or lose weight, both difficult to do in their own way. This year I will be making an Old Years resolutions and this is:

To carry on giving up smoking  and never put one of those disgusting, addictive, foul smelling, cancerous things in my mouth ever again.

There I’ve said it. Do you know how much it means to me and anybody else who manages to stop smoking to be able to say that and know that this time you really mean it? When you watch TV programmes like the X Factor or Strictly Come Dancing the contestestants always seem to say that winning means the world to them. Well in the real world stopping smoking truly can mean the world to you when you have smoked for many years.

I started when I was 14, it was easy to buy separates from corner shops and then graduate to packs of 5 Park Drive if you got some extra spending money or had a pal to share the cost with. Back then in the 60s it was cool to smoke, the height of sophistication if you were an impressionable teenager. We just didn’t know the health risks that went hand in hand with looking sophisticated to our peers.

Then the health risks became known but when you are addicted your needs overcome what is good for you. It is hard to stop smoking, very hard for most of us nicotine addicts. Every now and then you try to stop but more often than not you weaken and start smoking again. You create a pattern until eventually you manage to break that pattern and stop – that is if you don’t die from smoking related illnesses first.

I will be ending the old and starting the new year as a non smoker and that will be for the first time in 40 years. I won’t have a smokers cough or get out of breath while I am partying. Those who I give a new years hug or kiss to will smell Opium perfume on me and not be repulsed by the disgusting ashtray smell. I won’t have to go outside in the cold with the other outcasts who share the horrible habit and I can brag about how much money I have saved.

Very important to me and the main reason that I stopped back in May is a massive improvement in my circulation. Last winter I suffered from a lot of excruciating pain in my fingers from Reynards disease. At times it was frightening because there was no circulation in my fingers and it was difficult to get my fingers warm enough to get the blood flowing again.

As I work in a shop that sells chilled and frozen products I couldn’t always keep my fingers warm and they and my livelihood were at risk. Now that I don’t smoke those problems have lessened to such an extent that it is just an occasional minor nuisance now. Sometimes it was too painful to use my computer keyboard but now there isn’t a problem.

For those of you who despair of ever giving up smoking my story is proof that eventually you can stop. With my weak willpower it took a lot of attempts using different methods to stop but eventually I found the way that works best for me and that was electronic cigarettes. I used them to gradually get rid of my nicotine addiction and I don’t smoke anything now – nor am I addicted to anything.

One of the things that I did to help myself was to build a blog and keep an online diary. Knowing that other people would be watching how I did strengthened my resolve and my diary will always be there to stop me from slipping.

To learn more about how I stopped smoking with the help of electronic cigarettes visit smokersstop.co.uk

If you want to stop smoking and need some support check out our stop smoking forum but please don’t spam it with crap


Giving Up Smoking Is Easy I Was Told

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“Giving up smoking is not easy” I replied to my friend who lives in blissful ignorance of what it is like to quit smoking having never smoked a legal tobacco product in his life.

Patronising people like him really bug me and for at least 10 seconds the friendship is over! Okay I’m not that shallow but why do so many non smokers believe that stopping smoking is easy and especially for those of us who have smoked for many years?

I will allow that it is easier to stop smoking now than it ever was but it still isn’t easy. There you are struggling to stop and wanting to slap all of those who tell you that you need more willpower grrr. You need to buy some cigarettes just to stop exploding and injuring a section of the human race.

Unless you are super human it isn’t about willpower for most of us. It’s about making the decision to quit smoking and taking one day at a time. If you don’t think that you can go cold turkey then forget the superhuman willpower stuff and seek out a stop smoking aid and if that isn’t helping try another and another until you find what is right for you.

There are plenty of choices out there: nicotine patches, nicotine gum, hypnotism, laser therapy, acupuncture, audio tapes, tablets and even  electronic cigarettes. As you can see there is absolutely no need to torture yourself and those around you with horrible withdrawal symptoms unless you are that way inclined!

Other friends who bug me order me not to start smoking again. The pointless conversation usually goes something like this:

“How are you doing with the stopping smoking?” or “Are you still not smoking?”

“Fine” or “Yes” I reply while wanting to throttle my friend for reminding me.

“Good – don’t you dare start again, you know how bad smoking is for you”

‘Of course I dare start again you fool’ I think while I force a smile knowing that my friend is well meaning.

The point that I’m making here is that I want to forget about smoking for as much of the day as possible and asking for progress reports really does not help those who are trying to stop.

On the other hand if somebody who has stopped offers information such as how long it’s been since they had a cigarette then praise them. Tell them how well you think they are doing, ask them something intelligent like “Do you feel better for it?” or “How much have you saved?” Make them feel good, not annoyed enough to go out and buy a pack.

The worst type of friends an ex smoker can have are those who offer them cigarettes.

“Go on, take it. One won’t do any harm”

Yes it will be harmful. One leads to another and ex smoker becomes a smoker again. You don’t want that – or do you?

At least this type of friend can be avoided to a certain extent if you live in a country where smoking is now banned in public places. You can dodge going outside with them or into an area where smoking is allowed.

Giving up smoking is easier nowadays with the smoking bans and more aids, but it becomes harder if those around you don’t help. Addiction to nicotine is harder to break than any other type of addiction and you need all of the help that you can get.

Are you struggling to stop smoking? I was but not any more. Just click on giving up smoking to follow my progress, or visit the stop smoking forum. Grab yourself a free copy of How To Stop Smoking Forever

Waiting For A Train With Electric Cigarettes

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I was getting restless waiting for the train and without thinking pulled my electric cigarette out of my pocket and had taken a couple of long puffs at it before noticing the evil looks that I was getting from my fellow travellers. I held my e cig up for them to see while guiltily saying “It’s an electronic cigarette, safe and legal to smoke in public places.”

The evil looks quickly turned to interest and I heard comments like ‘I’ve heard of them’, ‘they are supposed to be good’ and was asked by an elderly lady who looked as if she thought it was a wind up ‘What are they?”

I showed them my e cig as I replied ”This is a battery, atomiser and a nicotine cartridge. Although the cartridges contain nicotine they do not contain the 4,000 plus harmful chemicals that cigarettes contain. The smoke that you see is just  harmless vapour  not second hand tobacco smoke”.

An elderly couple were the most interested, they asked me if electronic cigarettes really were safe to smoke. My  reply was “As far as I’m aware they are and without the tar and chemicals they have got to be much safer than the effects of smoking normal cigarettes”.

“Aren’t they just as addictive?” a young man asked.

“Yes” I replied, “but I am using them the same way that I would use nicotine patches to wean myself off tobacco”.

I went on to explain that you can get nicotine cartridges in different strengths just like nicotine patches and that this way of quitting smoking was working for me. I told them that after several weeks of no cigarettes I felt fitter and healthier and that I was using the electronic cigarette less and less because I had mainly lost the habit while I was dealing with the addiction.

“Where can you buy them from?” Several of those around me wanted to know and when I told them the Internet lost some interest, but then I could hear them working a way round it with comments like “We can go on the computer at the library”, “…mobile goes on the Internet”.

The amount of interest was amazing and especially from the older end. I’ve seen that before when I’ve been out and about with my e-cigarette. What I think is that after smoking for many years they are getting more and more symptoms of just why tobacco cigarettes are bad for them and that’s frightening. Like me they have probably tried to stop smoking and failed many times and the possibility of a new way that might help them is bound to be of interest to them.

However, no matter how much interest there is a sticking point. As always I was asked how much e-cigs are while I was waiting for the train.

Prices vary, but I paid £50 for my starter pack and 25 extra cartridges – enough to last me for at least 6 weeks. After that there is only the much lower cost of cartridges or refill fluid. I’m personally saving over £20 every week.

As I saw my train approaching and fellow travellers interest waining I asked myself  “What price health?”.

Are you struggling to stop smoking? I was but not any more. Just click on giving up smoking to follow my progress, or visit the stop smoking forum. Grab yourself a free copy of How To Stop Smoking Forever

Can’t Stop Smoking – Try Electronic Cigarettes

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I’m having great fun with electronic cigarettes, I feel healthier and think that I’m saving money, but am I living in cloud cuckoo land? We shall see.

Electronic cigarettes are healthier than smoking tobacco, can help you to stop smoking, they save you money. Claims made by e-cigarette companies and users but are they true or false?

Smoking Facts

I found out that normal cigarettes contain over 4,000 chemicals and to my horror approximately 40 that are cancerous and that is a proven fact.

Electric cigarettes contain Nicotine, Propylene Glycol, Water and Flavourings – a bit less than 4,000 chemicals don’t you think!!

I’m already addicted to nicotine so I can’t see that e cigs are more harmful in that respect. Propylene glycol is used to deliver vapourised nicotine and according to Wikipedia is used amongst other things as a moisturiser in medicines, cosmetics, food, toothpaste, mouth wash, and tobacco products. If propylene glycol is so widely used in those other products then it shouldn’t be harmful. Water shouldn’t hurt anybody and flavourings – most of our food contains flavourings.

Looking at those facts and unless electronic cigarettes contain substances that we don’t know about then I can’t see them being anywhere near as harmful as tobacco products. I’m no doctor or scientist, but having scoured the Internet the objections to e cigarettes don’t seem to be about what they contain, more that they are addictive and that young non smokers may turn to them because of different flavours available including chocolate and cherry.

I can see that point and really can’t see why flavours beyond the normal were introduced, except for profit of course.

Giving Up Smoking

I’ve tried many times and in different ways, the most successful was with nicotine patches but obviously as with over 80% who try to stop smoking with patches or gum they didn’t provide a permanent cessation of my nicotine addiction. Whether electronic cigarettes help me to stop permanently or not I don’t know and won’t for at least another year or two.

What I do know is that with patches you have a constant flow of nicotine into your body, some brands even recommend that you use them 24/7. I never smoked 24/7 and was never comfortable that nicotine was being constantly released into my body. With e cigarettes I have more control over my intake and like patches can gradually reduce the nicotine strength until I am smoking no nicotine vapour.

Healthy Or Not

Do I think that electronic cigarettes are healthier? Absolutely, I feel better in myself and although I’ve only been smoking e ciggies for a couple of weeks even after a short time I have noticed a difference in my breathing. I walk up a long steep hill every day – usually slowly and out of breath. Not now, I walk up there quicker and my breathing is easier.

I lay on my back and slept last night for the first time in years. Usually I lay on my side because the strange noises that my chest was making when I laid on my back not only kept me awake but also was frightening.

I stopped waking up coughing a few days ago.

Money Saving

There are claims of saving 80% of the cost of smoking normal cigarettes. I don’t think that’s strictly true. The initial outlay for a starter kit generally containing an atomiser, 2 batteries, charger and 5 or 6 cartridges can vary from about £20 to £100. Some companies claim that 1 nicotine cartridge is equivalent to 20 cigarettes – others say 6. I am finding that the brand I am using is probably about 10 cigarettes per cartridge.

An additional cost that isn’t mentioned on some of the sites selling e-cigs is that atomisers need changing fairly regularly and that you should have a spare one. Even so I estimate the saving that I am making to be at least 50% in money and perhaps far more in health.

I am not a law breaker, but if my government ban e cigarettes as some countries have I would have to strongly consider breaking the law rather than risk of going back to tobacco and certain deteriorating health.

Are you struggling to stop smoking? I was but not any more. Just click on giving up smoking to follow my progress, or visit the stop smoking forum. Grab yourself a free copy of How To Stop Smoking Forever

Electric Cigarettes

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electric cigarettesI’ve tried to stop smoking many times over the years and failed dismally. Thing is I enjoy smoking even though I know that it’s bad for my health. I don’t like smelling like an ashtray or having a smokers cough. Nor do I like feeling like a leper in todays society just because I smoke.

So I had to admit to myself that it was time for me to sort myself out and do something about stopping. Having so many failed attempts behind me I knew that it was time to try something different – if you are thinking ‘willpower’ forget it. I haven’t got enough of that and why should I put myself and those around me through the torture of withdrawel symptoms when you don’t need to.

I’ve read a few articles over recent months about electronic cigarettes and became interested enough to search out genuine reviews and comments on forums.  You will find a lot of false reviews on the internet from people selling a product, you can usually tell that they have probably never seen the product never mind tried it. Forums are good to get genuine feedback and opinions so that’s where I always look.

The feedback about electronic cigarettes is pretty good out there, though there do seem to be some issues from anti smoking groups. They reckon that e cigs are just as addictive as tobacco products and maybe they are, but they are still healthier.

With e cigarettes you get nicotine cartridges without the tar and harmful chemicals that you get in normal cigarettes. An atomiser and a battery. Put them all together and you get a cigarette like those in the picture above.

I’m pretty pleased with them so far. I have stopped smoking tobacco and I don’t have the withdrawel symptoms that I’ve had with previous stop smoking attempts. My aim is to wean myself off the addiction by gradually lowering the strength of the cartridges at a comfortable pace.

It’s the same principal as nicotine patches but I control how often I introduce the nicotine to my body and how much. With patches you are introducing nicotine all of the time. Some brands tell you to leave them on for 24 hours. I just wouldn’t do that, I don’t smoke 24/7. I once forgot to take a patch off when I went to bed and I felt lousy the next morning, my mouth was very dry and I was coughing a lot.

Are you struggling to stop smoking? I was but not any more. Just click on giving up smoking to follow my progress, or visit the stop smoking forum. Grab yourself a free copy of How To Stop Smoking Forever